Happy this thread got resurrected as it was a fun read. Dont know if any of the OP's are still reading but I thought I'd throw out my story as this thread made me think back.

I was a kid in FLorida in a boating/scuba diving family. Changing in and out of wetsuits, showering from solar showers on the back of the trawler to get the salt off before you put on clothes. Nudity was just what happened when cirumstances needed. Nobody went out of their way to be naked, but no big whoop, so to speak.

Flash forward to college in the NE. 4-5 days into my freshman year, I get undressed, grab my towel and shampoo, and walk down the hall to the bathroom for a shower.

Holy Shit, I have never caught so much hell., you would have though I shot someones dog. Not only did I get yelled at, I got the nickname "half-dollar" for penis size. ( I am a grower not a shower)

I was 17.

I got a crash course in Taboo's.

Around 20 - 17-19yr old guys managed to instill in me shame for my body that I would never have concieved of on my own.

Honestly, I have no idea what this means in a greater sense. Not trying to make a political statement. I am a BMvirgin going this year, and this thread makes me want to get naked just as a "fuck you " to those who want to control me, and as a way to ditch the constraints of those pricks who got me to conform to their arbitrary idea of what's OK. (unfortunately more than just the naked thing too)

I look at Burning Man as an opportunity to experience new things that I might not do in the default world. What other city of 45,000 people can you walk around or ride a bike naked without getting hassled by the law? Last year I enjoyed participating in the BRC world naked bike ride and pub crawl, and no one appeared to be offended by my pale Seattle skin and my less than perfect body. Of course you can remain clothed the entire time and that's fine too.

i hope to goodness there's aBIG little dress out there for me....i have some time to hunt in reno, thank goodness....

try not to get sunburned in all the wrong places was my easy to follow rule....i hope you have fun!

oh and i am not huge down there, so what....

i gotta get over the dress wearin thing...a total 180 for me...that didn t occur back in our nudity household/time....and i am NOT a dead head....arg....but i'll do this for sure...wtf...it'll be funny....

I'm the MAN in a truck, burner who is stuck, you're in luck! I'll whip out my BIG tow chain and not charge you, not even one lousy buck!

robotland wrote:I'd start out being naked around the house....Not as easy as it sounds, once you're out of the bathroom and bedroom. Try getting comfortable doing everyday around-the-house things while naked. I work in the studio naked SOMETIMES, although metal scupting generally makes that challenging. Just getting more comfortable in your own skin is the first step to "taking your skin on the road". When we first moved to our old house, in a very rural and isolated part of Western Michigan, I declared that I'd be "officially moved in" when I could walk naked out to the road and get the Sunday newspaper...Of course I'd gotten most of the way there when the church traffic started coming by, inspiring a hasty dive into the bushes.

Good god that's funny.

And as for my advice (since I spend most of the week naked at Burning Man but very little of my public life naked the rest of the year).. Just get used to being naked when you are alone doing normal stuff. And when you get to Burning Man just take a look around and do what comes naturally. You may find that it's great naked weather (it's always great sun block weather!!!!) or you may be too busy letting all your other inhibitions drop away to bother with the naked thing. Do what's natural. And wear sun block. Either way you should lather in sunblock.

My first year, my other camp mates and I talked about how we were going to do it...walk around naked...just once... You are there, it's the perfect atmosphere, opportunity...whatever.

We got there, and my camp mates all backed out. I was scared shitless, but I did it anyway, by myself. Naked bike ride, human carcass wash, naked walk during the dust storm... I am by no means the epitome of physical perfection, but I did it. Felt great and I would do it again. It was a personal milestone for me in that I felt comfortable if I wasn't the only one doing it. When that didn't happen, I did it anyway.

The main thing to keep in mind is that it is all about your own personal journey and reasons for wanting to experience this. Shouldn't matter what other people think. If it does, then to the people who are questioning it, I then say: why are you you doing it?

I hope this doesn't come across as judgmental or speaking from on top of a soapbox. Far from it...just relating my own personal experience with the topic...

I've been practicing! I vacuumed the hall nude today, then started organizing my BM clothes room; I got kinda sad looking at all the great clothes I've made/collected/altered. I guess I have something for whatever mood strikes me. Either way, I sheepskinned my bike seat!

My first year I was out on the deep playa and struck up a conversation with a clearly stark naked guy. He had no clothes with him even in a pack pack. I asked how the hell he has the courage to go around like that? It really seemed like no big deal to him.
It wasn't until year 2 that I went on the naked bike ride. As far as the human carcass wash, it's like winding through a very long return line in Sears after Christmas. Dozens and dozens of nekkid people washing each other down. Showers will never be the same for you.
After the naked bike ride, I remember waiting to use the porta potty and looking around and realizing I was the only one in the area that had no clothes on. Yes, the only one butt naked and it didn't feel awkward or out of place. (not having a fly to zip after peeing was odd however! )

Shambala wrote: He had no clothes with him even in a pack pack..................

...........(not having a fly to zip after peeing was odd however! )

To the first part.. that's me about 5 minutes after our camp was finished in the middle of a dust storm in the middle of our first day of my first burn. And I'd never been naked in public before. And it just felt right.

The hardest part of being able to go around naked without worrying about it is after I get home. So after the event, and this has happened more than once, I am either in my underwear or my altogether and I realize I need to get something from my truck or in the yard and I just start walking out ... and have to catch myself before I actually walk out the door with an "oh, you can't do that here" sort of moment.

I don't go naked much at the burn because there are parts of me I really don't want sunburned or coated with a lot of playa dust. Playa dust in places that chafe sucks. But walking to/from the shower or while changing or something, no biggie. It can be hard to get used to having to put clothes on again especially if you are out there for more than just the event week.

Every year there are stories of LEOs having to remind participants to put their clothes on after they leave the event.

My first year at Burning Man I was sooo scared to get naked. I'm a big girl and very body conscious. I did it anyway and it was freaking AMAZING. It made me feel so much better about myself. Talk about throwing yourself into a bit more self-acceptance!

I rode my bike naked and threw my hands in the air and shouted "WHEEEEEEEE!!" out of sheer joy.

@geekster HA!!! I have the same problem!! I come home and walk out in the backyard or out in front to get stuff out of my car and then I have that "oh shit" moment, ROFL!

Minxy wrote:@geekster HA!!! I have the same problem!! I come home and walk out in the backyard or out in front to get stuff out of my car and then I have that "oh shit" moment, ROFL!

There are lots of things about Burning Man that I think are "fun" but wouldn't work in the default world. Like the drugs and loud music 24/7.. But this is one aspect that I wish would take root and become normal for the other 51 weeks. Everyone should feel comfortable in their own skin. That's probably my single favorite part about the whole experience out there. Be yourself! Yiiipeeeee!

Minxy wrote:My first year at Burning Man I was sooo scared to get naked. I'm a big girl and very body conscious. I did it anyway and it was freaking AMAZING. It made me feel so much better about myself. Talk about throwing yourself into a bit more self-acceptance!

I rode my bike naked and threw my hands in the air and shouted "WHEEEEEEEE!!" out of sheer joy.

There are thousands of ladies like yourself who ride in the critcal tits bike ride every year. I can see the look of relief and the feeling of the weight of the world lifted off their shoulders when they are riding.
The crowds of people that are cheering you ladies on, are not there to see boobies, but really for the encouragment of this freedom. HONEST!

Shambala wrote:The crowds of people that are cheering you ladies on, are not there to see boobies, but really for the encouragment of this freedom. HONEST!

Can't we do both? I can't help myself! I love bodies of all shapes and sizes. I <i>also</i> love seeing people enjoying the freedom to be themselves. It's a freedom that Burning Man seems to encourage and it's one I wish more people got to experience more of the time!

PS, I only went to critical tits once and it was to serve beer from our mobile homebrew platform!

OED will be here to clear this up I'm sure, but unlike Critical Tits, which is pretty much supposed to be female identified participants, Critical Dicks will take anyone of any gender variation who has something dick-like between their legs, either naturally occurring or just attached for the event.

Being the playa, none of the "rules" ever work as designed.

It's a camping trip in the desert, not the redemption of the fallen world - Cryptofishist

@bm_cricket Yea! It was very healthy for me. I just talked to people and gradually felt more and more comfortable in my skin. It was just awesome.

@Shambala I did finally do Critical Tits my third year. We had a newbie lady across the street who sort of adopted our camp and she reaaaally wanted to do it, but wanted someone to go with her as she was nervous. By that time I was very comfortable topless at Burning Man, but for her it was a BIG deal.

We went on the ride and it was fun. The guys with the big lense cameras were kinda creepy though. I just ignored them and enjoyed the cheers of the crowd and celebrated it.

Ha, I wanted to ride in Critical Dicks with a dildo strapped to my head, but couldn't quite get it to stay....

FaeTora wrote:Wait, so there is a critical dicks and a critical tits? or are they one in the same?

What FaeTora may not know is that the evening of the last friday of the month in san francisco is an event called "critical mass" which consists of [s]jackasses acting like hoodlums to prove that they are better than the rest of us[/s] bicyclists drawing attention to the costs of fossil fuels and automobiles.
So the name Critical Tits is from that.
And Critical Dicks is from the great burningman tradition of offering a counter parade to every parade.

The Lady with a Lamprey

"The powerful are exploiting people, art and ideas, and this leads to us plebes debating how to best ration ice.Man, no wonder they always win....." Lonesomebri

Minxy wrote:@Shambala I did finally do Critical Tits my third year. We had a newbie lady across the street who sort of adopted our camp and she reaaaally wanted to do it, but wanted someone to go with her as she was nervous. By that time I was very comfortable topless at Burning Man, but for her it was a BIG deal.

Is this like when stray cats adopt <i>you</i> as has happened to me a few times? They sort of decide "Okay, you are worthy of feeding me, sheltering me, and paying for my vet visits. Worship me human for I am god!"

Achem. Anyway. My camp is full of photographers and do you know what we do for Critical Tits? We leave our cameras in camp and we go around the event asking people, or down-right telling them, to put their cameras down. It's one of our camp's actual "camp events". The lot of us usually go there and walk around policing it! Huzzah! (It's at least partly because we have so many rangers and they spend so much time reminding people to be respectful and/or listening to complaints)

This will be my first burn, and the thought of being naked for part of a week has crossed my mind several times.

I'm 5'7" or so and could probably lose about 20 pounds, but I'm more comfortable with my body now than I've ever been before, and I feel pretty good about getting to this point at 25.

Moving to Oregon actually helped immeasurably with coming to terms with my body and loving it exactly the way it is, regardless of constant fluctuations due to my intense love affair with craft beer. I frequent a few clothing-optional co-ed soaking pools here ("clothing-optional" -- no one ever opts in) and this year I did my first World Naked Bike Ride. Riding around in legwarmers and a strap-on with 13,000 other riders. It was the most freeing, joyful, wonderful experience. When my friend picked me up (coincidentally, the friend who ultimately convinced me that this was my year for Burning Man, and the one who is acting as my guide and source of sanity through the preparation process) took one look at my stupid, dopey grin and said "You have no idea how much you're meant for Burning Man."

It's a process. I think the important thing is to not be hard on yourself for having moments of self-doubt or criticism. Just enjoy it - there's nothing quite like being naked, especially when lots of other people are naked. We rode through the streets, past homeless folks who dropped their pants as we rode by, disapproving hipsters, and crowds of drunken frat boys who actually just applauded and then let their faces light up with delight when I rode over to high five them.